Let’s face it: Having only crypto will not make for a good life. And crypto now is high, very high. A correction is in the cards, so why not lock in the insane profits and convert it to something you can touch, see, feel and use? At a bargain?

A friend of mine is offering this one-of-a-kind real state in the Caribbean, a true mansion, your neighbors will be Schmid from Google, and other hi-flyers. Cabarete, one of the six important surf and kite surf locations in the world is just 5 minutes by car.

He is very motivated to sell as he needs to go back to Europe to take care of his elder parents.

Recent statistics published by the Russian Association of Cryptocurrencies and Blockchain (RACIB) shows that Russian investors appear to be at a crossroads in the fintech space.

The future of Russian cryptocurrency adoption is very much dependent on what lies ahead, particularly with regard to the Kremlin’s past stance which has never been favorable towards allowing the public to become active participants, despite government murmurings suggesting the adoption of CBDC or ‘cryptoruble’.

RACIB statistics indicate the degree to which the cryptocurrency space has been affected by scandals and corruption and a lack of clear government leadership. The resulting status quo sees half of the ICO funds raised in 2017, which amounted to USD 300 million, going to pyramid schemes, according to Bitcoin News.

While the West is predominantly concerned with finding the right balance as it discusses cryptocurrency regulation on an almost daily basis, the major eastern powers such as China and Russia look towards prohibition, over-regulation or limiting digital currencies for government use only, despite blockchain’s rise and rise in commercial enterprises.

In the US, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) continue to debate the securities versus utility issue in order make final decisions over adoption, whereas in blockchain-friendly Europe, General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) has become a point of focus as more companies line up for conducting business using everything that fintech may have to offer.

This could change if the Russian State Duma’s Committee for Legislative Work supports the first reading of an initiative that will add the basic norms of digital economy to the Russian Federation Civil Code. Such a move though would not automatically allow digital currency to become a legitimate means of payment, as this would require a separate law, although the initiative plans examine smart contract application.

A change in direction may be on the way after President Vladimir Putin’s recent push for blockchain technology to be part of his new “digital economy” program, saying that the country can’t be “late in the race” for blockchain dominance.

A recent Moscow cryptocurrency summit was attended by 200 speakers and over 3,000 participants, showing that the impetus for change is there in the new technology race. It remains to be seen how the Kremlin progresses and contributes towards Russia ’s technological advancement.

Bitcoin bull and renowned financial investor Tim Draper laid out his vision for a blockchain-based solution to government efficiency problems at the GovTech Pioneers conference in Vienna, Austria on Wednesday.

As reported by Cointelegraph, Draper’s opening speech presented a plan for future political governance, consisting of a shift to the use of blockchain technology that would employ smart contracts and artificial intelligence (AI). He predicted that this combination would be capable of providing ”the perfect bureaucracy”.

Blockchain, AI, and healthcare

“The services provided by the insurance, healthcare, and real estate industries are very bad and require a lot of money. The government that burned a lot of money for the worst service first felt this,” Draper said, outlining the reasoning behind the need for a change in governmental operations.

He emphasized his points with a specific focus on healthcare, outlining the future as decentralized, with patient’s data accessible to them on blockchain. An automated system would utilize AI technology to consistently review the data, sending warnings and advice to individuals at risk.

Draper is not the only person who sees blockchain as a superior solution; several blockchain-backed healthcare projects do already exist, praised for the immutable patient records they can provide.

Of course, setting up a blockchain project in a country to cover every citizen would be a much larger feat than any of these companies have achieved so far. The cases do prove, however, Draper’s vision is not as unattainable as some may initially think.

Blockchain and voting

As recently reported by Forbes, voting is another area of government inefficiency that could benefit from a blockchain alternative. As demonstrated in previous US elections, the current voting procedure leaves much to be desired.

Blockchain voting would mean it would be virtually impossible to hack and could potentially be done at home while verifying the identity of the voter, reducing electoral fraud.

Draper did not illustrate the issue of blockchain voting in his GovTech Pioneers talk, but by highlighting the point of blockchain efficiency in regards to government operations, his speech was invaluable in the technology being recognized further in the field.

The United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) has announced a collaboration with the IOTA Foundation to examine the feasibility of DLT streamlining its operations, according to Coindesk.

The new partnership announced on Tuesday stated that the two organizations plan to utilize IOTA’s tangle technology which is easily compatible with Internet of Things devices, due to its minimal computing requirements.

IOTA uses a different blockchain system from that of Bitcoin and Ethereum networks, which is one reason that the UN division has chosen to work with the foundation. UNOPS special advisor on blockchain tech, Yoshiyuki Yamamoto claims that the ledger “can be operated on battery power or alternative connectivity networks” in areas with “sporadic access to high-speed internet connections or even electricity”, essential for UN field operations.

Yamamoto points out that an important factor of the collaborative project is that UN will able to apply the technology to real-world use cases. The UN is increasingly using blockchain in numerous projects around the world. Thomson Reuters Foundation reports that the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) is launching a crypto-funded university solar energy project this year in Moldova in partnership with the South African solar power marketplace Sun Exchange, and many such projects are either underway or planned for the future.

“We don’t do blockchain for blockchain’s sake. We have limited resources and personnel, so we have to focus our efforts on solving real-world challenges. Our priorities stem from our mission as an organization, not from the fads of the crypto space,” Yamamoto concluded.

Yamamoto could not predict how long it might take to move from a pilot phase to fully implementing IOTA’s technology due to the current educational nature of the collaboration.

The Bank of England (BoE) has published recent findings for central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) that indicate such a government-issued currency is no longer a possibility, but an inevitability.

The BoE’s recent findings suggest that a CBDC is entirely feasible and can be introduced with a minimum of risk, although it is unclear exactly what form it will finally take, once commercial banks are forced to adopt a new system.

In line with several countries around the world, the BoE is beginning to examine the credentials of a CBDC in order to streamline its banking procedures, enabling funds to be expedited quickly and efficiency, updating outmoded banking systems.

The possibility of a government-issued cryptocurrency being not too distant is not that surprising, given the current mood at top levels of government in the UK. A ‘Cryptoassets Task Force’ is currently underway to examine the space to see if it can become a feature of the UK financial environment. British Chancellor Philip Hammond recently launched a task force to help safeguard consumers which include representatives from the Treasury, the BoE and financial watchdog FCA. He said the taskforce would help the UK “manage the risks around crypto-assets”.

Such calls for regulation were also made recently by the Governor of the BoE, Mark Carney, when he discussed the impact of cryptocurrencies’ core technology indicating that he was not against innovation provided by cryptocurrencies, stating that regulation could potentially “serve the public better”. This following his comments that cryptocurrency “had pretty much failed” as a source of money.

Three models suggested

The Financial Institution Model (Model F1) is a system where only financial institutions will be able to access the CBDC. The report suggests this is a safe approach offering a stable approach to banking, reports Finder.

The Economy-Wide Model (Model EW) where financial institutions can directly access CBDC, and businesses and households can access CBDC through financial institutions. Under this model, all banks, non-bank financial institutions (NBFIs), CBDC exchanges, households and businesses can have a CBDC account at the central bank itself. But only banks, NBFIs and CBDC exchanges can trade CBDC directly with the central bank. Households and firms can go through the exchanges, which might be standalone entities or banks/NBFIs, to convert deposits between CBDC and pounds.

The Narrow Bank Model (Model FI+). A system where financial institutions can access CBDC, and then use a spin-off “indirect CBDC” (iCBDC) for its business and household customers. This system is designed to include CBDC as the actual central bank money, and iCBDC as the connected digital currency that people interact with on a day-to-day basis.

The main question being asked now that the bank has made these significant moves towards a CBDC is what kind of currency will emerge. Will it be a digital currency for all to streamline the population’s everyday banking needs or will it simply be an instrument with which banks can save costs?

Alexander Vinnik, the alleged operator of BTC-e cryptocurrency exchange, has confessed to the laundering of billions of US dollars worth of Bitcoin. According to Interfax, the admission of guilt has been received by the Prosecutor General’s Office of the Russian Federation and is being transferred to the Moscow police department in the Ostankino district.

Three days before BTC-e was shut down and customer funds were seized, Vinnik was arrested while on vacation in Greece at the request of the United States. He was accused of laundering between USD 4 billion and USD 9 billion in cryptocurrency. He has already been hit with a fine of USD 12 million from FinCEN in the US.

Although BTC-e originally released a statement saying Vinnik was not an employee of the exchange, he has since admitted that he was a technical consultant for the exchange, and now admits he was in charge. He has sent four letters admitting his guilt to the head of Russia’s ministry of internal affairs, the ministry’s chief investigator, and the Prosecutor General of Russia. He claims responsibility for RUB 750 million worth of damage to Russian citizens between 2011 and 2017 as well as for a large amount of computer information fraud.

He has offered to help Russian authorities with the investigation and this has apparently almost cost him his life. Local media reported that Russian criminals conspired to poison him before he could get to court in Russia and testify. Since the poisoning attempt, he has been put under a special lockdown at the Greek prison where is staying; no one can come into contact with him or give him food besides the prison guards.

The United States and Russia have been fighting for the right to extradite Alexander Vinnik to their respective countries. In January 2018, he submitted an application for asylum in Greece, saying the charges were politically motivated. Before he can be extradited, the asylum request must be decided on by the Justice Minister of Greece.

Bitcoin markets are under a bearish market sentiment with prices undergoing strong selling pressure. Today’s trading session had traders experience major breaches in Bitcoin’s price, with prices continuing to be following a downward spiral.

The day’s signals

Bitcoin markets continue experiencing breach after breach with no sign of support being present.

BTC/USD levels now reach USD 7,300 price levels only a day after USD 8,000 price levels were breached.

Markets aren’t appearing to take much consideration for positive price movements. Resistance appears to be bringing selling pressure even after price falls.

GDAX BTC/USD charts are showcasing the disdain traders have towards any and all positive movements. The market’s sentiment has worsened considerably, and traders don’t seem to think twice when giving in to selling pressure. Large sell offs have dominated the day’s course, making up a significant portion of the day’s trading volumes in spite of the largest spikes happening momentarily. It’s no wonder that periods through which the most selling pressure was expressed accounted for the bigger chunk of the day’s trading volumes.

OKEX BTC/USD weekly futures charts are showcasing how futures markets are pricing in for Bitcoin at lower prices than spot trades. This is a trend that was kept up throughout the day. Larger downward spikes continue being reflected with accuracy on futures markets. All that while futures markets appear to show hesitation when it comes to following. It is clear that the shift in the market’s sentiment has also lead to an overturn of the mood in futures markets.

Overall, a very sharp shift in the market’s sentiment is now being embraced by traders. Bitcoin markets are struggling to maintain any level of support that could prove viable with each bearish breakout followed by another. Markets are not looking good with traders drifting away from the potential of a recovery.

For an improvement in the market’s outlook, a lot of liquidity would have to come in the form of support. The need for such moves becomes apparent in trading sessions like the more recent one. Lower trading volumes are known to leave markets susceptible to further breaches.

Golix filed the lawsuit against the Reserve Bank in the High Court of Zimbabwe. Golix is one of three cryptocurrency exchanges that are active in Zimbabwe, the other two being Bitfinance and Styx24.

The lawsuit argues that the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe has no jurisdiction to ban cryptocurrency, since that is equivalent to lawmaking which is something only the parliament can do. It argues, therefore, that the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe is usurping parliament’s power with this action. The lawsuit also mentions that the Reserve Bank couldn’t even manage their own local currency, the ZWL, so they have no right in general to make decisions regarding any form of currency.

Zimbabwe is notorious for the hyperinflation which destroyed its currency, the Zimbabwean Dollar (ZWL), and the same Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe which is banning cryptocurrency was largely held responsible for the crisis.

Essentially, the bank was accused of printing money at will to pay all of its debts, including for funding a war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The inflation rates became so extreme that the Zimbabwe fiat currency lost all of its value almost overnight. In November 2008, inflation hit an unfathomable 79.6 billion % per month, and eventually, the ZWL was completely abandoned in 2015.

One new way to obtain USD was through a Bitcoin ATM that the Golix cryptocurrency exchange installed in the capital Harare in March of this year. It dispensed USD for Bitcoin, a rare way for Zimbabwean citizens to get USD outside the black market.

Although cryptocurrency is obviously a very positive development for Zimbabwean citizens who have had to live with hyperinflation, since it provides a store of value which the government cannot manipulate and facilitates obtaining stable and valuable fiat currencies like USD, the government of Zimbabwe is trying to ban it anyways via the action of the Reserve Bank.

The decree banning cryptocurrency states that all financial institutions and banks must halt all cryptocurrency-related activity within 60 days, and the order was thorough in banning any and all cryptocurrency activity even by individuals.

Unfortunately, some customers trying to sell Bitcoin and withdraw cash to their bank accounts are finding that it is no longer allowed, even though there is supposed to be a 60-day grace period from the issuance of the decree so that people can get their affairs in order.